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[No. 59 — Second Series — 3000] 



Indian Rights Association, 
1305 Arch Street, 
Philadelphia, Pa., October, 1901. 



THE URGENT CASE OF THE MILLE LAC 
INDIANS. 

BY S. M. BROSIUS, 

Washington Agent of the Indian Rights Association. 



It is quite safe to state in the introduction of this article that 
probably no tribe of Indians in the United States has suffered 
to a greater extent by reason of unfulfilled promises and agree- 
ments on the part of the United States Government than the 
Mille Lac band of Chippewas, of Minnesota. 

a synopsis of their history. 

Under the provisions of the treaty of April 7, 1855, the 
Chippewa Indians of Minnesota ceded to the United States a 
large tract of land, and by further provision of the treaty certain 
reservations were established, including that of the Mille Lacs. 
This treaty provided for allotments of land in severalty to the 
heads of families and other persons of the bands over twenty 
years of age. The Mille Lac Indians, believing that their 
occupancy of the reservation would be permanent, made exten- 
sive improvements thereon which they occupied until they died. 
Their children are now trying to retain title to these lands. 

Those conversant with the history of the northwest will recall 
the great Sioux outbreak of- 1862, in which most of the Indians 
of Minnesota and the Dakotas joined, or made demonstrations 
of unrest, and among the latter were the Chippewas of Minne- 
sota. The Mille Lac band of Cheppewas, however, would not 
join their brethren in these hostile demonstrations, nor did they 
take any part in the pillaging of the white settlers surrounding 

I 



'20 



their reservation, as was done by the Pillagers and other bands 
of the Indians. During this trying period the Mille Lac band 
sent runners to notify isolated settlers and their families of the 
threatened danger, and conducted them to places of safety. 
Nor did their loyalty to the white man stop here. They sent 
messengers to the hostile camps of Indians engaged in commit- 
ting the outrages, and notified them that if any of the settlers 
who had fallen into their hands were injured they (the Mille 
Lacs) would join with the whites in the effort to protect life 
and property. This action on the part of the Mille Lacs dis- 
couraged the Chippewas engaged in the outbreak, and the latter 
soon dispersed and returned to their separate reservations. 

These hostile acts resulted in the treaty of March ii, 1863, 
with the Minnesota Chippewas. Under the first article of this 
treaty the different bands of Chippewas joined in ceding to the 
United States the Mille Lac and other reservations in the State 
of Minnesota ; but the Mille Lacs having refused to relinquish 
their separate reservation, the Government, recognizing their 
valuable services and friendship during the year previous, ceded 
to them by the provisions of the twelfth article of the treaty 
the exclusive right to occupy the Mille Lac reservation, in words 
as follows : 

^^ Provided, That owing to the heretofore good conduct of the 
Mille Lac Indians, they shall not be compelled to remove so 
long as they shall not in any way interfere with or in any man- 
ner molest the persons or property of the whites." 

It was understood and agreed at the time of the signing of the 
treaty by the chiefs and the then United States Senator from 
Minnesota and chairman of the negotiating Chippewa Commis- 
sion, that the right of the Mille Lac Indians to the use and 
occupancy of the Mille Lac reservation would be the same as 
it formerly had been. Firmly believing that this was true, the 
Indians made additional improvements on the Mille Lac reserva- 
tion by clearing and cultivating large tracts of land. In the 
year 1868, however, a settlement by a white man was made 
within the limits of their reservation, and the number of white 
settlers has increased from time to time since that date. 



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It was in the year 1884 that a resolution was passed by Con- 
gress prohibiting further entries upon the lands of the Mille Lacs 
until further legislation was enacted. On January 14, 1889, 
Congress passed a bill entitled "An act for the relief and civil- 
ization of the Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota." 
During the negotiations of the Commission created by the act 
(commonly called the Chippewa Commission) with the Mille 
Lac band of Chippewas, at the request of Chief Wah-we-yay- 
cuni-ig, the Commissioners and Chief arose as a token of sincere 
friendship, and stood with raised hands while the Indians 
shouted ''Ho!" This was to make more binding the articles 
of agreement, especial emphasis having been given the clause of 
the statute allowing them the privilege of remaining upon their 
reservation and taking allotments. This clause of the statute, 
which is still the law, reads : 

'' Provided, further, That any of the Indians residing on any 
of the said reservations may, in his discretion, take his allotment 
in severalty under this act, on the reservation where he lives at 
the time the removal herein provided for is effected, instead of 
being removed to and taking such allotment on White Earth 
Reservation." 

The minutes giving the proceedings of the various councils 
held with the Mille Lac and other bands of Chippewas during 
the pending of the negotiations with the Chippewa Commission 
authorized by the act of January 14, 1889, are preserved in printed 
form in Executive Document No. 247, 51st Congress, ist Session 
(H.R.), and show conclusively that the representations made to 
the Indians by the Commission, in addition to the words of the 
statute itself, were that the allotments might be taken on the 
Mille Lac reservation by all who desired to remain at their old 
home. The Chippewa Commission which negotiated the agree- 
ment of 1889 was also the allotting agent, and the promises thus 
made by this Commission would seem to be all the more bind- 
ing and sacred. After the Indians had assented to the terms of 
the 1889 agreement, the whole political machinery of the State 
seems to have set to work to force the Mille Lacs off their homes 
and to locate upon the White Earth Reservation, which, though 
only about two hundred miles distant, differs very much in cli- 



matic conditions. Although the Mille Lacs appealed to the 
Commission to allot them lands upon the reservation where they 
lived, the request was uniformly refused on one pretext or an- 
other. In the mean time 'other settlers were locating upon 
the Indian lands and harassing the Mille Lacs so that they were 
in sore distress. 

An illustration of the abuses to which they were subjected 
may be cited in the case of Ain-dus-o-ke-shig, who is yet plead- 
ing for justice. During the month of April, 1890, all of the 
Mille Lac Indians who could work sought employment of the 
lumbermen operating in the vicinity of Mille Lac, who had 
logs to drive to markets and mills from the point where the 
timber was cut. Being expert log-drivers, they all found 
employment. Among these was Ain-dus-o-ke-shig, now one of 
the chiefs of the Mille Lac band. He was absent from home 
about two months working on one of the log drives. When he 
returned to his home he found a new house built on his premises, 
and his own house being used as a blacksmith shop. He 
addressed the man he saw there in English, but the latter could 
not understand, as he was a Scandinavian ; so the chief secured 
an interpreter and was informed that the land had been entered 
in the Land Office by this foreigner. 

Notwithstanding his prior right to the land and the premises, 
Ain-dus-o-ke-shig moved away therefrom in order to avoid 
trouble, though sorely tempted to take the matter into his own 
hands and deal with the Scandinavian as he deserved. The 
chief built a new house on another tract of land on the reser- 
vation, but it was not long before this too was claimed by 
whites and he was forced to remove from this land also. Ain- 
dus-o-ke-shig then settled upon a portion of the lands upon 
which his grandfather had lived and cultivated at least fifty 
years ago, and which has since then been occupied and cultivated 
by the latter' s children, including Ain-dus-o-ke-shig' s father, 
who was then alive. Here a house has been built, making the 
third one erected by the chief. Although several attempts 
have been made to remove Ain-dus-o-ke-shig and the other 
Mille Lacs on the tract in question, he has resisted such efforts 
and says he will not peaceably submit to any further removal. 



Another instance that may be cited is that of an old Indian 
named May-qua-me-wan-o-quit, whose home was taken by a 
Scandinavian settler also. The Indian had lived upon this home 
for forty years. He was turned out by the Scandinavian and his 
dwelling converted into an ice-house. In a council held at 
Mille Lac, in September, 1898, at which one of the Chippewa 
Commissioners was present, Ain-dus-o-ke-shig feelingly referred 
to the bad treatment he had received from the Government and 
the whites, adding that in 1862, during the great Sioux uprising, 
his treatment of the whites had been very different, and that he 
had saved from being massacred the parents of some of the very 
men who had acted so unjustly toward his people. Ain-dus-o- 
ke-shig died two years since as a result of a cold contracted 
through exposure, as he was then living in, a tepee. Is it to be 
wondered at that his sons now living are bitterly opposed to the 
white settlers ? 

Many similar instances of injustice and cruelty can be cited as 
a result of driving the Mille Lacs off their old homes that they 
loved so well. No less than seventy-five gardens and fields have 
been wrenched from the possession of these Indians through the 
same heartless processes. 

The Government itself has been weak and vacillating in the 
treatment of the Mille Lacs. On January 9, 1891, the Secre- 
tary of the Interior decided that the lands of the Mille Lac reser- 
vation were a part of the Public Domain and subject to home- 
stead entry, notwithstanding the statute which provided for 
allotment to all Mille Lac Indians who desired to remain thereon, 
and after refusing to allow them to so locate. Settlers immedi- 
ately filed upon the valuable lands of the reservation, especially 
the pine lands, so that all but about 5,000 of the 61,114 acres 
contained within the reservation were claimed by settlers. The 
decision of the Secretary was reversed on April 22, 1892, it 
being held that the lands should be disposed of in accordance 
with the terms of the act of January 14, 1889. 

Congress was now asked to come to the rescue of the settlers 
who had under the guise of law made settlement, and a joint 
resolution was passed, December 19, 1893, quieting title upon 
the lands thus settled upon between the dates of the decisions of 



the Secretary above cited. On May 27, 1898, Congress enacted 
other legislation confirming the titles acquired by whites upon 
the Mille Lac lands, with a proviso that certain tracts of land 
should be reserved for the use of the Mille Lac Indians for a 
burial place. Within a few months the site guaranteed the 
Indians as a burial place has been settled upon by whites, who 
claim title through the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and 
the State of Minnesota. 

It is stated that about 100 Mille Lac Indians were ejected 
from their homes in May, 1901, by the sheriff of Mille Lac 
County, and their dwellings and property burned or otherwise 
destroyed, owing to white settlers having some semblance of title 
to the lands occupied by the Indians for generations. 

What relief is there for these Indians in their distress? It is 
a well-settled principle of law that Congress cannot deprive the 
humblest citizen of right to property, so that if the Mille Lac 
Indians have not parted with the right of occupancy, they can 
enforce their right by appeal to the courts. In the case of the 
United States vs. Thomas (151 U. S. 577), the Supreme Court 
of the United States held, October 20, 1893, as follows: 

''We, therefore, are of opinion that by virtue of the treaty 
of 1842, in the absence of any proof that the Chippewa Indians 
have surrendered their right of occupancy, the right still remains 
with them, and that the title and right which the State may 
claim ultimately to the sixteenth section of every township for 
the use of the schools is subordinate to this right of occupancy 
of the Indians, which has, so far as the court is informed, never 
been released to any of their lands." 

The question settled by the court in the case cited is similar 
to the one involved in the Mille Lac claim. Other decisions 
have also been rendered fortifying this finding of the court. 

The Mille Lac Indians have 'funds jointly with the Chippewas of 
Minnesota deposited with the Federal Treasury, and have here- 
tofore appealed through attorneys with whom they have entered 
into contracts to have attorney fees allowed by the Department of 
the Interior, which so far have been refused. Under Section 
2T03, Revised Statutes of the United States, no legal contract 
can be made with any tribe of Indians which provides for the 



P /.4,3. 



payment of attorney fees unless approved by the Secretary of 
the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The 
present policy of the Secretary of the Interior is not to allow 
any Indian tribe to employ attorneys, claiming that the 
Government is sufficiently able to protect their interests. It 
was plainly not the intention of Congress that no attorneys 
should be employed and paid from Indian funds, else the law- 
making power would have prohibited such contracts or rendered 
the agreement for compensation void. The Executive Depart- 
ment of the Government is an interested party with adverse 
interests to those of the Indians, since through its wavering policy 
settlers have obtained a foothold within the limits of the Mille Lac 
reservation, and the Government would no doubt be compelled 
to pay heavy damages in the event of the ejectment of these 
settlers. It would therefore seem evident that the Department 
is not a fair judge to decide the question as to the rights of the 
Chippewas involved. 

In this claim of the Mille Lacs recourse can be had to a statute 
amended during the last session of Congress, which provides for 
bringing suit in the Circuit Court of the United States by a 
claimant for an allotment of lands. Such a case on behalf of 
one or more of the Mille Lac Indians would involve the question 
as to their rights to the lands of their reservation. 

Although the finding of the court might be favorable to the 
Indians, but few evictions would follow, and these only in cases 
of recent wrongs where the Mille Lacs have been driven off their 
lands. With such a decision, however, the Indians would be in 
a position to dictate terms of damages to a certain extent, so 
that a fair sum might be secured as damages and to reimburse 
them for the loss of their reservation thus unlawfully appropri- 
ated. The lesson would be a salutary one for both the Govern- 
ment and settlers, who are continually encroaching upon Indian 
rights. 

The Indian Rights Association has always maintained this 
cardinal principle, which we think commends itself to fair- 
minded persons ; Indians should never be forced to be removed 
from lands which they possess, and which are capable of 
rendering them self-supporting. On the contrary they should 



be encouraged to make permanent homes on such lands, and to 
mingle naturally with the civilized life about them. This 
principle should be all the more strongly adhered to in a case 
like that of the Chippewas who love their lands, have built 
homes on them, and the possession of which was assured them 
by the solemn promise of the Government. 



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